The BPA danger is in the can

Want to avoid that endocrine-disrupting chemical bisphenol A (BPA) that's been linked to cancer, infertility, early puberty and other health problems? Stop eating canned food and beverages. No more food microwaved in plastic. Don't drink from polycarbonate water bottles. In a study published today in Environmental Health Perspectives, scientists at the Breast Cancer Fund and Silent Spring Institute discovered that a person's BPA levels dropped by 60 percent when they ate a diet that avoided contact with BPA-laden packaging.

"This study suggests that removing BPA from food packaging will remove the number one source of BPA exposure," said Janet Gray, a professor at Vassar College and advisor to the Breast Cancer Fund, in a statement. "This study should serve as a call to action for industry and government to get BPA out of food packaging and to fix the broken chemical management system that allows it to be there in the first place."

The study tested the BPA levels of five families in San Francisco who had diets rich in BPA packaging. After three days of eating fresh organic meals with no canned food that were stored only in glass containers, their BPA levels dropped by an average of 60 percent. The families were also tested for phthalates, a plastic-softening chemical found in food packaging that can tamper with reproductive development. Those dropped by an average of 50 percent.

What can you do? Store your food in glass or stainless steal. Eat fresh or frozen food (although there are some BPA-free canned foods on the market including Eden beans as well as Wild Planet canned seafood.) And don't microwave food in plastic. For a shoppers guide go to www.breastcancer.org.